Favorite Schools

Favorite Teams

Michigan

Change Region

comments

Accused murderer guilty of assault, still faces trial in slaying of young mother

Family and friends of Latrice Maze wipe their eyes during testimony in the prelim for Jahleel Hoskins, charged with the murder of Maze on Wednesday, May 22 at the Kent County Courthouse. Police believe the Grand Rapids mother of five was killed March 19, then her body placed in a dumpster and incinerated.
(Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – A jury has found Jahleel Hoskins guilty of stabbing a man in February, a crime that police say provided the motive for the murder one month later of a mother of five.

Hoskins, 26, will spend at least 25 years in prison after he was convicted on Friday in Kent County Circuit Court for stabbing Kenneth Harris after a fight in the parking lot of the Elks Lodge on Linden Avenue on Feb. 19. He was also convicted of perjury for lying under oath about his whereabouts on the night of the assault.

Hoskins will be sentenced on Nov. 4. He is slated to return to the courtroom one month later to face trial for the murder of Latrice Maze, who went missing on March 19.

Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kellee Koncki spent the week convincing a Kent County Circuit Court jury that Hoskins committed assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder when he stabbed Harris at least five times.

Hoskins' attorney, Brett Stevenson, argued that his client only intended to send a message to the victim and not to do great bodily harm. He said Hoskins used a small-bladed instrument he knew would not do serious damage.

Stevenson said Hoskins should have been charged with a lesser crime.

“Don’t mark guilty just because he is guilty of something,” Stevenson told the jury. Hoskins did not take the stand in his own defense.

Hoskins and Maze were at the Elk's Lodge when Hoskins saw Harris, who fathered two of Maze's children. A conflict between Hoskins and Harris began.

The two were kicked out of the lodge, one out the back and the other out the front when Hoskins circled around the building and began stabbing at Harris’ chest.

Harris testified that he rolled into a ball, but Hoskins kept stabbing at him.

Koncki said the only thing that kept Hoskins from killing Harris was that the assailant could not get access to any vital areas.

“This man doesn’t choose to call it a day, he walks away because he’s done as much damage as he can without getting caught,” Koncki said.

Witnesses told the jury that Hoskins confessed to the stabbing and other said that Maze confronted Hoskins about the stabbing, saying his actions could endanger their custody of the children.

In March, Maze allegedly threatened to contact police about Hoskins' involvement in the stabbing, according to witnesses.

Police were called to the Burton Street home shared by Hoskins and Maze on the morning of March 19 about a domestic dispute, but left without making any arrests.

Maze was never heard from after that day. She was 26 years old.

A friend of Hoskins said the suspect confessed that he choked Maze at the home and then wrapped her body in a sheet from her daughter's bedroom.

Hoskins then put the body in the trash dumpster at Peppercorn Apartments near 36th Street SW and Clyde Park Avenue, according to police.

But Maze’s body has never been found. The murder trial is slated to begin on Dec. 9.

Because Hoskins is charged as a habitual offender, he faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison. Hoskins remains in the Kent County Jail without bond.